Winning in the Second Half

Retirement for professional athletes can often be daunting as they consider new careers off the pitch.

As the first FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 partner and first standalone partner of UEFA Women’s Football since 2018, our investment in women’s football has focused on increasing visibility for the sport at all levels, driving acceptance, and future-proofing the game.

However, for the women’s game to continue to succeed, creating long-term career paths for players is a must.

That’s why, together with Karen Carney MBE (Former England international) and Kim Little MBE (former Scotland international), we launched The Second Half programme in 2020 to support the players who are at the heart of women’s football, and ultimately to accelerate the growth of the women’s game.

The career development programme aims to help players transition the skills they have developed as a professional footballer to their next career. The programme also provides the cohort with new skills, experience and networks as well as an increased awareness of opportunities outside of ‘traditional’ sports careers such as media or coaching.

Having expanded The Second Half into Spain in 2021, in partnership with La Liga, we are now into our third year of running with 71 players benefitting from the programme to date.

Assembling the squad

In June 2023, Visa partnered with Barclays - a longstanding investor into UK women’s sport including title sponsorship of the Barclays Women’s Super League - to expand the Second Half Programme.

Barclays will help grow and support the programme, including providing materials from their Digital Eagles learning resources to help upskill players on topics from financial literacy to staying safe from scams.

For the first time, in 2023, players are also offered the opportunity to apply for paid internship positions at Visa over the course of the summer break.

Our sponsorship of women’s football, and programmes like The Second Half, is a platform to champion female athletes, players, and the wider community of supporters to achieve their dreams on and off the pitch.

Social impact and financial education

The Second Half is one example of our wider social impact and financial education work at Visa. For more than 30 years, we have developed innovative, free to use and easily accessible financial education resources to businesses, individuals and communities that help people learn the fundamentals of personal finance, including budgeting, saving, responsible spending and the wise use of credit. Please read more about our programmes and initiatives here.